Epitome of the endlessly evolving Infestation, Nidus bends the vile corruption to his will, mutates his genetic potency to adapt and assimilates his victims with an insatiable parasitic hunger. Nidus and his strain developed in Update 19.5.

Like Inaros, Rage or Hunter Adrenaline are extremely useful in fueling Nidus' first and second abilities, as any damage taken is immediately turned into energy, without having to go through shields first.

Alternatively, max energy increasing mods like Flow are less useful due to his third and fourth abilities not using energy.

Nidus has the unique passive ability to infect other players both in combat and in a Clan Dojo with the "Helminth Virus" acquired from the Infested Room onboard the Orbiter. Nidus is the only Warframe that can be used to open the Infested Room without having a fully matured cyst.

The Infestation dwelling within Nidus mutates rapidly when used against his foes, fueling his abilities and yielding various symbiotic benefits. Nidus possesses various passive mechanics highlighted in the tabs below:

Mutation gauge at 100 stacks.

Mutation is a resource unique to Nidus, indicated by its counter and gauge displayed in the lower-right on the HUD, above the ability icons.

The gauge is divided into five sections which represent the number of hits dealt to enemies via Nidus' abilities. The counter at the center of the gauge keeps track of the number of Mutation stacks.

Upon hitting one or more enemies via Virulence or Ravenous, depending on the number of hits the sections of the gauge will light up clockwise. After a total of 5 hits, the gauge finishes a complete cycle and the sections become unlit again, while the counter increases by 1 Mutation stack.

Abilities are not required to deal damage to enemies, only scoring hits is needed to increase Mutation stacks.

Mutation stacks are stored until used by the player. Stacks will not disappear in the event of a host migration.

Ability-nullifying enemies such as Nullifier Crewman will drain 1 Mutation stack every 2 seconds, ramping up the drain rate the longer Nidus remains in their radius.

Up to a maximum of 100 stacks can be stored. Each stack causes the gauge to gradually appear more infested. Upon reaching 100 stacks, the counter is hidden and the gauge is overlapped by Virulence's ability icon colored in red and black.

At 3 stacks, tendrils will protrude from his neck and upper spine, while the carapace around his ribs will open.

At 5 and 7 stacks respectively, the carapace around his thighs and arms will open to reveal more infested flesh and tendrils beneath.

At 10 stacks, certain sections of his currently-equipped helmet will open up, and many more tendrils will be exposed.

When stacks fall below the required triggers, Nidus' appearance will revert to the appropriate stage.

If Nidus suffers fatal damage with at least 15 stacks of Mutation, those 15 stacks are consumed, granting him 5 seconds of invulnerability and restoring health to 50%.

A UI banner displaying "Undying" and an invulnerability timer will appear at the top-center of the screen while this passive is activated. The required amount of Mutation stacks will be visibly subtracted from the counter and gauge.

If Nidus has less than 15 Mutation stacks, all stacks will be consumed without benefit if he is incapacitated or killed.

If Nidus has 15 or more stacks while Quick Thinking is equipped, Undying will be given a higher priority, triggering before any energy is drained by Quick Thinking.

Nidus gains the following additional bonus stats while leveling up, alongside regular statistic increases for his health and power pools, indicated at the top-left of the Warframe Upgrade page:

While Nidus is connected to a target via Parasitic Link, using Virulence will spawn a second instance from the linked target that grows toward the targeted location, converging with the first instance from Nidus.

Maggots from Ravenous can be manually detonated when impaled by Virulence's fungal growth, exploding for damage and contributing to the Mutation gauge per enemy hit.

Player can move the aiming reticle while holding down the button to aim Virulence at the desired direction.

While held, the player can still perform other actions such as moving, jumping, firing weapons, and casting other abilities. Releasing the key while in midair will exit range indicator mode without casting Virulence.

While connected via Parasitic Link, a second range indicator visible to Nidus only will also appear around the linked target.

While held, Maggots from Ravenous will be marked on the HUD, allowing increased visibility for selective detonation using Virulence.

Cannot be recast until the fungal growth's maximum length is reached or until it cannot spawn any further due to obstruction. Therefore, Natural Talent and Speed Drift only affect the speed of Nidus' stomping animation.

Fungal growth's infestation does not spawn up or down high terrain elevations, but do flow up and down stairs and ramps.

Tips & Tricks

Can stagger enemies to help keep them in place for recasts.

Can completely refund its cost when it hits at least 4 targets. 5 or more targets allow Nidus to earn extra energy.

Due to the refund per hit always being kept at 1/4th the ability's cost, negative efficiency can be used to gain more energy over 4 hits at the cost of a higher initial cast cost.

Collect Mutation stacks to amplify Virulence's damage drastically over the course of a mission.

Hold 1 to line up Virulence on groups of enemies before releasing to cast. This is an efficient method to gather extra energy and collect hits for stacks. Jump and release 1 to toggle off the range indicator without casting the ability.

Use Larva to gather enemies in one spot, then unleash Virulence to optimize damage and stack collection.

Casting Virulence while Parasitic Link is active allows both Nidus and the linked target to create a line of fungal growths from your positions toward where you aim. This allows Nidus to effectively extend his reach on Virulence, and collect double hits for stacks if both lines hit the same enemies. Hold the 1 to help determine where you and your linked targets' lines will spawn.

Can detonate Maggots spawned from Ravenous by you and any Nidus players in your squad. Hits from both the fungal growth and maggot explosion each count toward the Mutation gauge. Blow up anyone's Maggots to help you and your brethren gather more stacks quickly!

If the fungal growth cannot spawn any further because of obstruction, you can immediately recast Virulence.

Maximization

Maximization is a form of specialization: mods may be blended to result in values that vary between the top-end limits listed here. Click any maximized link to learn how to build it.

Nidus ejects an infested larva toward the targeted location over unrestricted range. Upon impact, the larva rapidly matures into a floating mass of infested tentacles that sprouts tendrils to grab all enemies within a radius of 8 / 9 / 10 / 12 meters. Affected enemies are forcibly ragdolled and pulled into the mass, becoming unable to move or attack while grotesquely meshing together within the writhing whirlpool of flesh. Larva will wither away when it has no enemies to grip, is cast when no enemies are in range, or after 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 seconds have elapsed.

Enemies must be within range and line-of-sight of the larva to be pulled in. Larva will only grab enemies when it spawns.

Grabbed enemies can still take damage from normal sources.

Grabbed enemies drop to the ground upon Larva expiration.

Affects both ground and flying enemies.

Enemies gripped by tendrils will float helplessly and rotate around the Larva, similar to Vortex and Sandstorm. Dealing damage or killing enemies in this mass can cause other affected enemies to bounce outward, swing wildly in an orbit, then be pulled back in.

If enemies cannot be ragdolled by Larva after being attached to tendrils, they will be released after 3 seconds.

Enemies latched onto by its tendrils visually appear to be covered in infestation, while robotic targets appear encrusted in rust.

Combine with Virulence to deal high damage to multiple enemies and earn Mutation stacks quickly.

It is highly recommended to build for range to allow Larva to catch as many enemies as possible.

Weapons and abilities with splash damage and/or Punch Through can be used to quickly dispatch enemies stuck in Larva.

When Larva expires, enemies will drop to the ground and begin to recover from their ragdoll state. Recast Larva to immediately disable them again.

Combine with Ravenous to group up enemies for your Maggots to feast and explode on.

Maggots underneath or attached to enemies in this infested mass will hit all enemies when they are detonated by Virulence, dealing high damage and collecting hits for stacks very quickly as each explosion counts as 1 hit to all enemies in its splash radius.

Enemies linked to Ancient Healers are immune to the ragdoll and pull effects and are not disabled, but will remain attached to tendrils showing their positions.

Larva will attach to enemies affected by Bastille; however, it will not pull them.

Larva cannot be recast while active, meaning players should either build for low duration at the expense of Parasitic Link and Ravenous or try to maximize the amount of enemies caught by a single instance of Larva.

It's possible to overcome this problem with the augment Larva Burst equipped, allowing players to cut Larva's duration short and react to situational changes more easily.

Maximization

Maximization is a form of specialization: mods may be blended to result in values that vary between the top-end limits listed here. Click any maximized link to learn how to build it.

As client, enemies recovering from ragdoll state, knockdown or performing a special attack animation become immune to the ragdoll and pull effects from Larva. As host, regardless of state, recovering enemies will be pulled and trapped by Larva.

Nidus expends a single Mutation stack to perform symbiosis with a targeted ally Warframe within 24 / 28 / 34 / 40 meters or parasitically link with a targeted enemy within 10 / 13 / 16 / 20 meters. The link persists as long as Nidus and his target remain in range of each other, lasting for 30 / 35 / 45 / 60 seconds or when manually deactivated by pressing the ability key again (default 3 ).

Parasitic Link does not require line-of-sight to maintain connection between Nidus and his target.

If the target dies during cast before the link is attached, the single Mutation stack used for Parasitic Link will be refunded.

When linked with an ally Warframe, Nidus and his target both receive a 10% / 15% / 20% / 25%Ability Strength bonus. When linked with an enemy, the target is completely disabled for the duration while Nidus transfers 20% / 30% / 40% / 50% damage received to the target instead; all knockdown, stagger, and negative status effects are also transferred from Nidus to the enemy target.

The Modified Strength Bonus is the same percentage for your linked ally. However, Modified Ability Strength's calculation will depend on your linked ally's own Ability Strength.

Damage redirection is capped at 90%, achievable by a 80% increase in Ability Strength.

Enemy target is invulnerable to outside sources of damage and immune to external crowd control effects while Parasitic Link is active, but is not immune to damage and crowd control effects transferred from Nidus. Damage from outside sources is accumulated and dealt to the target when the ability duration expires or when manually deactivated.

While linked to a target, using Virulence will spawn a second instance from the linked target that grows toward the targeted location, converging with the first instance from Nidus.

Nidus and the target are visibly covered in infestation and connected via a tether of biochemical energy, which is affected by the chosen Warframe energy color.

Cannot link to a target already affected by Parasitic Link. Multiple Nidus players cannot link to the same target, nor to each other while their own Parasitic Link ability is active.

When connected to another Nidus player, both players will use the Ability Strength bonus from the casting player; the link will break if the partner activates Parasitic Link on a different target.

Tips & Tricks

Link with a nearby teammate or enemy for Virulence to create two lines from Nidus and the linked target. This effectively extends Virulence's reach, doubles its damage output, staggers enemies in its paths, collects more hits for stacks, and earns extra energy for the cost of one cast.

Linking with a teammate creates a mobile casting point that can relocate quickly to find new enemies.

Linking with an enemy provides a stationary casting point that allows you move around to adjust Virulence's travel direction and length.

Use Virulence's range indicator by holding 1 to determine the number of targets both lines will hit before releasing the button to cast.

Teammates with Warframes that possess high ability damage and Ability Strength-based effects are prime candidates for Parasitic Link.

Enemies with high health and armor values such as Heavy Gunners can absorb a large amount of damage transferred from Nidus.

As long as Nidus and his target are in range of each other, Parasitic Link's biochemical tether will help you visually track your positions.

Before reviving a downed teammate, link with a nearby enemy to protect yourself from taking too much damage.

Linking with an enemy caught by Larva causes it to become immune to damage from outside sources, which may hinder your crowd control ability because Larva will go through its full duration before you can recast it. Press 3 to manually deactivate the link, allowing you and your allies to kill the enemy to end Larva early for recast.

This immunity to damage can be beneficial for racking up the melee combo counter. Simply attack the target as many time as possible. Combine with combo mods like Blood Rush for best results.

Maggots from Ravenous will ignore your linked enemy target. However, maggot explosions will still count as hits for the Mutation gauge even when they cannot damage the target. When you cast Parasitic Link on an enemy with maggots attached, the maggots will detach once the link is established.

Parasitic Link can be cast on the Juggernaut, and though it will not immobilize the Juggernaut it will still transfer damage to it, bypassing the Juggernaut's normally-impenetrable armor.

Maximization

Maximization is a form of specialization: mods may be blended to result in values that vary between the top-end limits listed here. Click any maximized link to learn how to build it.

Health regen buff area is an invisible cylinder, allowing eligible targets to retain the buff within at most 8 meters above the spawning grounds.

Infested cysts catly form on the spawning grounds, hatching up to 9 Maggots that seek out nearby enemies to feast upon. Once enemies are detected, Maggots frenzy with increased movement speed and leap toward their prey to latch onto them. While attached to an enemy, each Maggot will continuously stun its target and inflict ? base Toxin damage amplified by the number of Mutation stacks accumulated, per second until the target dies or Maggot expires.

When detonated by Virulence, when their hosts die, when killed, or when Ravenous duration expires, Maggots explode to deal 100 / 110 / 125 / 150 base Blast damage amplified by the number of Mutation stacks accumulated, to all enemies within a 4 meter radius.

When a maggot host is killed by other sources and maggot bites, the host itself is not an eligible target and will not count towards Mutation.

When a maggot host is hit or killed by Virulence, the host itself is an eligible target and will count as 2 hits, one from Virulence and the other from the explosion of a single Maggot that was attached.

If multiple Maggots were attached to the same host, each Maggot explosion will score 1 hit on the host.

Due to the total damage calculation accounting for Mutation stacks after the cost of Ravenous, it is not possible to reach amplified damage results above 97 Mutation stacks.

Maggot explosion total damage is calculated and predetermined when Ravenous is cast. Total damage will not be recalculated if any changes in Ability Strength and Mutation stacks occur while Ravenous is active.

Recasting Ravenous by creating a new instance will recalculate total damage, while recasting to refresh the current instance's duration will not recalculate total damage (see below for recasting details).

Maggot uses a custom model to differentiate from the Brood Mother's Maggots. Maggots belonging to Nidus are affected by his chosen Warframe abilities color.

Spawning grounds is created at the location where Nidus initiates the casting animation.

Spawning grounds' infestation does not expand up or down high terrain elevations, but do flow up and down stairs and ramps.

Within the spawning grounds, various unique models will spawn for visual representation only. Players and AI can path through them unhindered.

Textures on the ground are blended with an infestation mesh.

Three infested nests erupt on the outskirts of the infestation positioned in triangular vertices. Nests glow, pulsate and emit spore particles, which are affected by the chosen energy color.

Nests also serve to maintain the Infestation. If a Nullifier Crewman's null sphere comes in contact with a nest, it will dissipate; when all three infested nests are dissipated, Ravenous will expire automatically.

Numerous patches of infested flora resembling tall grass encompass the ground, rustling when brushed past by players and AI while glowing in the chosen energy color.

Several infested branches sprout from the infestation to attach to nearby walls and objects in vertical and diagonal axis. Branches glow in the chosen energy color.

Can be recast while active.

Only one instance can be active at a time.

Recasting Ravenous while inside the older instance will refresh duration without relocating the spawning grounds.

Recasting Ravenous away from an active spawning ground creates a new instance at the new location while removing the older instance.

Maximization

Maximization is a form of specialization: mods may be blended to result in values that vary between the top-end limits listed here. Click any maximized link to learn how to build it.

Nidus commands the voracious Infestation to fuel his abilities and consume his enemies. He is uncommonly adept at dealing with powerful, resilient opponents and has excellent survivability despite his lack of Shields. He scales well into the late stages of endless missions, and is a perfect frame for solo content due to his ability to replenish his own energy and health.

Nidus uses a unique secondary resource, Mutation, which is tracked in a counter on his HUD. His abilities grant one mutation stack for each five enemies damaged, and his third and fourth abilities consume Mutation for powerful effects. Nidus takes on a more 'Infested' appearance as he gains more stacks. Nidus' damage potential through his first and fourth abilities also increases exponentially as he gains more stacks.

If Nidus would be killed with 15 or more Stacks of Mutation, instead 15 stacks are consumed and he avoids death, restoring himself to half health and gaining a few seconds of invulnerability.

Nidus also adapts as he levels up, gaining increasing armor, passive health regeneration, and power strength in addition to his normal rank bonuses.

Nidus' first ability and primary source of damage. Nidus stomps the ground, germinating a linear field of infestation which extends in a direction. Enemies caught by the field will contribute toward Mutation stacks. The infestation will pass over small obstacles such as crates, but will not cross changes in terrain level. Nidus must be on the ground to cast this ability.

Virulence deals damage based on power strength. However, Nidus' current number of Mutation stacks also greatly increases the damage. This property is what gives Nidus his extreme strength against high-level foes, as he can build Mutation throughout a mission allowing his damage with Virulence to climb almost limitlessly (Nidus is capped at 100 stacks of Mutation).

Virulence has a significantly higher cost than other primary abilities, especially when corrupted mods such as Blind Rage are used. However, Nidus will always refund one-fourth of this ability's cost for each enemy affected, even if the cost has been increased. If four enemies are hit, the cost will be completely discounted. Hitting five or more actually allows a net gain of energy. For this reason, it is important to make each cast of Virulence count; regularly using it on single enemies will quickly deplete Nidus' energy pool. To assist this, the '1' key can be held down to see an outline of Virulence's cast range and line up enemies. To cancel the cast, jump before releasing the '1' key.

Crowd Control such as Vauban's Vortex or Nidus' own Larva have complement this ability nicely. Clusters of enemies quickly build Mutations stacks and can easily fill Nidus' energy pool.

Nidus' second ability is a powerful but fleeting crowd-control AoE effect. Nidus releases a small infested growth which floats above terrain. Upon landing, the larva sprouts a number of tentacles which latch onto nearby enemies. Affected creatures are yanked toward the larva and mashed together in a mass around its center.

Larva is a powerful CC ability that incapacitates enemies and groups them together. Nidus himself can take advantage of this with Virulence to hit many enemies at once, and other frames with powerful AoE effects can use them to their full potential against the grouped enemies.

When no nearby enemies are left to hold on to, the larva withers and dies. Even if enemies remain, Larva lasts for a fairly short amount of time, so take advantage of it.

Nidus' third ability allows him to attach an infested tendril to another creature which creates a biological bond between them. The bond breaks after a short time or when Nidus chooses to end it by moving too far away or reactivating the ability. Parasitic Link costs no energy to activate, but will consume a stack of Mutation.

When cast upon an enemy, the affected enemy will be incapacitated and immobilized. Whenever Nidus takes damage while the tendril persists, a portion of that damage will be dealt to the enemy instead. Any negative status effects will be transferred to the victim instead. Critically, knockdown effects are transmitted, rendering Nidus temporarily immune.

When cast upon a fellow Tenno, Parasitic Link will amplify the power strength of both Nidus and the ally, increasing the effectiveness of abilities. Cast this on a support frame to increase your cell's survivability, or on a damage frame to quickly eradicate foes.

Whether cast on an ally or enemy, A second instance of Virulence will spawn from the location of the target. The path of this second wave will converge toward Nidus' target along with the first. The fact that the second cast has no energy cost allows great energy gains and quick Mutation stacking.

Nidus' final ability. Nidus expends three stacks of Mutation to deeply infest the surrounding area, filling it with a grotesque field that restores the health of allies while spawning waves of wriggling Maggots that feed on his enemies.

Maggots that manage to attach to an enemy deal ongoing damage while immobilizing their target. When their host is killed or hit by Virulence, the maggots detonate to deal a large amount of damage. Both the ongoing and explosion damage are greatly increased by Mutation like Nidus' first ability. In addition, enemies hit by the explosion contribute toward Nidus' Mutation. The healing of allies in the radius is also increased by Mutation.

Ravenous is not used as commonly as other final abilities. The high cost in Mutation stacks decreases the damage of Virulence, and the damage output of the maggots is not as useful. Larva is a more reliable crowd control ability that has the benefit of clustering enemies together. Still, this ability can be used to quickly restore a huge amount of health to an injured squad, and bring the map more in line with Nidus' Infested aesthetic.

Nidus takes some time to evolve into his true power. Early in the game, try to hit as many enemies as possible with Virulence in order to accumulate Mutation. Enemies stuck in choke points are a good target, as well as large groups that have been grabbed by Larva. Use Ravenous to help accumulate stacks with Maggots. Later in the game when you have accumulated enough stacks, put a Parasitic Link on an ally to increase power strength, and toss Larva into the middle of large platoons of Grineer marines. Follow it up with a 20,000 damage Virulence and repeat.

A normal build for Nidus Prioritizes range for Virulence and the grab range on Larva as well as duration for Nidus' third and fourth abilities. Keep in mind, however, that Nidus will be unable to cast a second instance of Virulence until the previous one reaches its maximum range. This effectively increases the 'cooldown' of Virulence at long ranges. Too high a duration would also prevent players from casting Larva often as only a single instance can be active at any time. Power strength shouldn't be prioritized as much of Nidus' damage comes from Mutation stacks but it shouldn't be negative either as Ravenous would have a lower health regen rate. Power efficiency is of least concern, given that only his first two abilities use energy and Virulence can restore energy.

Increased Nidus’ Mutation Stack consumption from 10 to 15 when knocked into a bleedout state/death. The task of regaining 10 Stacks is quickly obtainable, making this consequence for dying too light. Although 15 Stacks is not a huge jump, we’re hoping it’s closer to that sweet spot!

Entering a Nullifier bubble will now drain down Mutation Stacks the longer you are in the bubble.

To increase the visibility of Nidus' Maggots, holding down Nidus’ Virulence will now display a HUD marker on them. Keep in mind that casting Virulence on Maggots cause them to detonate!

Nidus’ Ravenous Maggots no longer auto detonate when feasting on enemies. Previously the Maggots could do a majority of the grunt work and you were able to watch the carnage and gain Stacks at the same time. Now to pop the Maggots you’ll need to cast Virulence on them and rejoice in your hard earned Stack accumulation. It’s also worth noting that with testing by our team, the Stack rhythm before and after this change wasn’t noticed at all.

Improved the FX of Maggot explosion to better represent the intended area of explosion.

Nidus’ Ravenous Maggots will still attack but no longer latch on other Infested Maggots or Kuva Jesters due to awkward animations.

Fixed FX, Maggots, & Health regeneration while in Ravenous staying around forever if cast by a Client who leaves.

Increased the brightness of both Nidus’ Ravenous Maggot tails and their death FX to improve visibility.

Improved Nidus’ Maggot visibility if performance was suffering.

Nidus’ Larva will now release an enemy if it fails to ragdoll them within 3 seconds. Before, enemies that were considered ragdoll immune (not including enemies trapped in Bastille) resulted in the inability to cast Larva again due to Larva staying perpetually latched to the enemy.

Nidus’ Larva no longer latches enemies trapped in Vauban’s Bastille.

Fixed a crash caused by Nidus’ Parasitic Link ability.

Fixed Nidus' alternate animation sets displaying placeholder text.

Fixed Nidus’ Larva getting destroyed by high damage Quanta alt fire.

Fixed being able to heal Defense Targets with Nidus’ Ravenous ability.

Conclave:

Increased Nidus’ Virulence width to 3m in Conclave. This also improves the ability to better hit enemies moving through it.